When asked about Boston’s spiraling payroll and spending spree this offseason, Steinbrenner said, “John (Henry) is committed to winning as we are. He’ll do what he has to do.”

He added, “The Red Sox are always gonna be there with the Yankees along with five or six other teams who can win the World Series. This year it’s the Phillies. The AL East is an SOB.”

Concerning his own team, Steinbrenner said that he sees a hunger returning to the team, the same hunger he saw in 2009.

“In 09 I saw it,” he said. “… Sometimes they celebrated a little too much last year. Some of the players too busy building mansions and concentrating on other things and not concentrating on winning. I have no problems saying that. They’ve come into this spring with a new hunger and that’s what it takes to win.”

The one player who built a “mansion” was Derek Jeter.

“I’m not singling anybody out,” Steinbrenner said. “This year, from what I’ve seen by our coaches they’ve come in with a real new drive and determination, the kind they had in ’09. I think they felt embarrassed last year. It bothers them.”

Concerning the team’s inability to acquire a starting pitcher, Steinbrenner said, “We did. We got Soriano. Everybody’s missing the point. We didn’t get Lee, but we got the second-best relief pitcher in the American League and now he’s the set-up guy.”

I wonder if Hank knows that A-Rod is purchasing a penthouse in The Rushmore Building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side? That’s sorta like a mansion, isn’t it?

For Hank’s Yanks, with spring training just around the corner, this is the bottom line: Whatever it takes to win championship No. 28.

Hank Steinbrenner, the Yankees co-chairman, is fired up for the 2011 season — even without Cliff Lee in pinstripes.

“We will do what we have to do to win,” Steinbrenner told The Post recently in a wide-ranging interview at Steinbrenner Field. “We have the highest payroll and the reason is we are committed to our fans to win.

“We just have to (bleeping) win,” Hank added emphatically, looking out onto the field and sounding much like his father.

“The AL East can toughen you up,” Steinbrenner said. “Hopefully it will work to our benefit. We will do what it takes to win. Look at the money we are paying out in revenue sharing. We are baseball’s stimulus package. The fans of other teams have no reason to complain about us or the Red Sox or the teams that support the rest of baseball.”

“I’m really happy with our bullpen,” Hank said. “You got both Rivera and Soriano, then you got Chamberlain and [David] Robertson and so forth. I think Chamberlain is going to come back and have a big year.”

The Steinbrenners do put the money where their mouth is.

“The fans pay the bills, we owe it to ourselves and to them to put the best product out there,” Hank said. “If we couldn’t get Cliff Lee, I’m really happy about getting Soriano. I just wish Lee would have given Brian the chance to meet with him, but [Lee] was on a hunting trip. He’s got his own reasons.”

Hank knows it all starts with the rotation.

“Hopefully our starters will get the job done,” he said. “Hopefully Andy [Pettitte] will come back. He knows we want him back. It’s strictly up to him now. Even though he’s already got five rings, he’s the type, like Mo, like [Derek] Jeter, like [Jorge] Posada, he wants another one.

Steinbrenner believes the Yankees’ young pitchers will make a major contribution as well.

“We got those kids coming too, [Ivan] Nova more as a starter, and the others [including big right-hander Dellin Betances and lefty Manny Banuelos]. You never know, one or two of them may join the team,” Steinbrenner said. “I know some of our baseball people don’t agree with our other baseball people a lot of the time, but they all like Nova.”

“I think A.J. [Burnett] is going to come back and have at least the kind of year like he had two years ago. CC Sabathia is going to be great as usual. Phil Hughes, we’re expecting more big things.

“I say we have one of the top four teams in baseball, whether we end up being the best or not, we’ll see.”

Hank Steinbrenner looks to Andy Pettitte when evaluating the risk of offering a seven-year contract to Cliff Lee.

The New York Yankees and Texas Rangers are waiting for a decision from the 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner, who is evaluating offers made by both teams before making a decision on where to sign.

“For somebody of that stature, it would certainly behoove him to be a Yankee, which would probably be for the rest of his career,” Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ co-chairman, said during a telephone interview Friday with The Associated Press. “I think that would be a great move for him but, of course I’m prejudiced.”

“Looking at how well Andy pitched up until this year and so forth, and he’s a lefty, the same kind of pitcher as Andy, I don’t really see a problem,” Steinbrenner said. “I think Cliff’s the kind of guy that can get it done and be effective for a long time. He’s a great pitcher.”

Then again, Hank was the one who thought it was a smart thing to sign A-Rod through the year 2587.

Hank Steinbrenner thinks Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees will agree to a new contract.

“I feel confident that Derek will remain with the Yankees, and my brother does, as well,” New York’s co-chairman said Tuesday night in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

The Yankees resumed negotiations Tuesday with Jeter and his agent, Casey Close, a baseball official familiar with the discussion said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the team and Close didn’t make any announcements.

Neither the official nor Steinbrenner would discuss what took place directly between the sides in the talks, which were first reported by foxsports.com.

“I’m not going to get into who’s met who,” Steinbrenner said.

“We want to keep him. He’s very important,” Hank Steinbrenner said. “I certainly hope he remains with us and he certainly should.”

I have to say, it is interesting that Jeter’s agent is dealing with Brian Cashman and not the Brothers Steinbrenner and Randy Levine. That’s not how it went down with A-Rod when he was a free agent. In that case, Cashman was not involved in the talks and it was mostly Hank doing the dealing. And, I have to wonder if this also bothers Jeter – that he’s not considered to be special enough to deal directly with the owners. If Big Stein was in his prime, you know he would have been on the front line for this one – and not just leave it up to the G.M.

Hank Steinbrenner has a message as the New York Yankees negotiate to re-sign Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

“As much as we want to keep everybody, we’ve already made these guys very, very rich, and I don’t feel we owe anybody anything monetarily,” the Yankees co-chairman said Tuesday. “Some of these players are wealthier than their bosses.”

New York has made a $45 million, three-year offer to Jeter, a baseball executive with knowledge of the proposal said, speaking on condition of anonymity because it wasn’t made public.

“We’ve encouraged him to test the market and see if there’s something he would prefer other than this,” general manager Brian Cashman told ESPNNewYork.com, without confirming the figure. “If he can, fine. That’s the way it works.”

Jeter is coming off a $189 million, 10-year contract that was second only to Alex Rodriguez’s deals of $252 million and $275 million, both over a decade.

“Negotiating is always a process,” Steinbrenner said. “I know he wants to stay. It’s going to come down to what’s fair for everybody considering all circumstances.”

This is starting to remind me of how the Red Sox treated Wade Boggs at the end of the 1992 season. Granted, Boggs was two years younger, then, than Jeter is now. But, he was coming off a bad season, etc. And, at this point, I would love to see Jeter sign with another team and win a World Championship with them and stick it to the Yankees.

Really, I have no issue with New York only offering three years. I understand the logic behind that. And, I understand them wanting to get this done at $15 million a season. But, I hate the hard line that Cashman and his boys are taking with this Yankees legend. Enough with the claims that you don’t want to do this through the press – and then issuing all these statements through the media anyway. And, enough with the take it or leave it threats. Make an offer, as they have, and allow the player to come back with a counter. And, work with them on getting this done in a manner that fosters good feelings on both sides.

You know, Pettitte may not come back. And, we know this is Posada’s last year. Now, Rivera’s contract is not a lock anymore. Add Jeter to that. There’s a great chance that the “Core Four” are done in New York. Again, I get that. Players get older, etc.

I just not sure how likeable this Yankees team is going to be when its face is going to be an aging A-Rod, Tex, Swisher, Granderson, Burnett, etc. Sure, there’s CC, Cano and Gardner. And, some people really like Phil Hughes. And, maybe Montero clicks. But, these guys are not Jeter/Rivera/Pettitte/Posada.

There’s really not much that can be done with Pettitte and Posada. But, you can bring back Rivera and Jeter for a few years. Yes, they’re older and not as productive as they were in the past. But, they’re future Yankees Hall of Famers and deserve more respect than the Yankees are showing them now.

Again, I’m not for giving them more years than makes sense. And, I’m not for grossly over-paying them as Hank did A-Rod in the past. I just want the Yankees to handle this process in a manner that shows the players some more respect and works out to everyone’s benefit. Is that too much to ask for here?

Speaking Thursday at Yankee Stadium, the part-owner of the Yankees said he believes the Yankees will be defending their World Series championship come October.

“I think were doing great considering Andy’s (Pettitte) out and a couple of other problems,” Steinbrenner said. “Obviously, were in the toughest division by far in baseball. So its going to be a struggle down to the wire. We’d like to win the division, but I think we can be rest assured were going to get the playoffs, then its a matter of what we do from there.”

While Steinbrenner has been known to talk more freely in the past, he chose not to address the topic of Joe Girardi’s future as Yankee manager. Girardi’s contract expires at the end of the season and there has been speculation that he would be coveted by the Cubs to replace recently retired Lou Piniella.

Steinbrenner added that he expects Pettitte and injured slugger Alex Rodriguez to be fine as they work toward rejoining the team.

When asked about his father and what life has been like since his passing on July 13, Steinbrenner started his answer by saying he didn’t want to start tearing up, but talked about how it was a hard time for him because of his relationship with his father.

He also commended fans for the support they have shown him and his family since his fathers passing.

“Obviously the fans have been great,” Steinbrenner told the Daily News. “We got a lot of letters, condolence cards, sympathy cards from fans, probably more than anyone else.”

“We’d like to win the division, but I think we can be rest assured were going to get the playoffs, then its a matter of what we do from there.’

Sounds like Hankie figures the Yanks to back in to the dance via the ‘card – but doesn’t care as long as the win it all in the end. Then again, these days, in Yankeeland, should we even be concerned about what Hank cares about?

[Darryl] Strawberry was on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of a baseball tournament on Randall’s Island that was sponsored by Verdero sporting goods, a Bronx-based company founded by Jorge Medina. The Verdero team beat Hank’s Yanks, 8-6. Both teams are 18-and-under.

Hank’s Yanks is a pet project of Steinbrenner’s oldest son Hank, and many of the teenage players come from disadvantaged backgrounds. When Yankees special adviser Ray Negron took some of the players to meet Hank Steinbrenner this past January at the team’s spring training complex in Tampa, Steinbrenner told Negron, “Do whatever we can to help.”

Negron said the team also represents an opportunity for players to be seen by major league talent evaluators. Longtime Yankee scout Cesar Presbott was at the game.

Despite George Steinbrenner’s tempestuous reign over the Bombers, he had a big heart – whether it was pouring money into charities, rehabilitating troubled players such as Strawberry, funding law-enforcement causes, or especially supporting children’s organizations. Before the start of the game, a photograph of The Boss was laid at the pitcher’s mound with a lit candle. Negron, Strawberry and former Yankee Roy White and Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz Jr. all gave tributes to the Yankee owner, who died of a heart attack last week at the age of 80.

…Do whatever we can to help…

Hankie gets a lot of heat for being the Billy Carter/Roger Clinton of the Big Stein family, and often. Just thought it was worth noting that he’s not all bad…and has a heart too.

Hank Steinbrenner thinks the New York Yankees are in a strong position to repeat as World Series champion due to the acquisition of pitcher Javier Vazquez and outfielder Curtis Granderson.

“The two trades that Brian did I was really pleased with and very proud of,” Steinbrenner. a team co-chairman, said Thursday. “I think that is going to make a big difference for us.”

“We needed another top-notch starter and got one,” Steinbrenner said.

Yankees captain Derek Jeter, who has started pre-spring training workouts at the team’s minor league complex, spent time Thursday with Hank Steinbrenner and his brother, managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner.

“I asked him his opinion, and he said, ’It’s all about pitching,’” Hank Steinbrenner said of Jeter.

Jeter is entering the final season of a $189 million, 10-year contract. The Yankees have a policy of not negotiating new deals until after a player’s previous contract.

“We’ll get into all of that eventually, ” Steinbrenner said. “Jeter’s place in Yankee history is obvious, so I think you can pretty much assume from there.”

There was no word in the report if Hank Steinbrenner saw his shadow while doing this interview – signaling six more weeks of winter…

Boston Red Sox owner John Henry renewed his call for a salary cap on Wednesday after an off-season in which the New York Yankees added three free agents for $423.5 million.

Or, as Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said, “the Yankees have spent like the U.S. Congress.” That drew a quick response from Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner.

“Along with a few other teams, we’re basically baseball’s stimulus package,” he said.

New York thinks it has the right to spend after paying at least $110 million in revenue sharing and luxury tax last year.

“As long as we’re doing that and giving all this money to other teams in revenue sharing, a staggering amount, we should be able to spend on salaries what we want to,” Steinbrenner said. “Because of revenue sharing and because of the popularity nationwide, the Yankees are critical to baseball.”

I doubt even those who are not too crazy about the Hankster can argue with that.

Joe Girardi said this week he’d enjoy showing free agents around the new Yankee Stadium. CC Sabathia is one of the players the New York manager has in mind for a tour of the spacious clubhouse, players lounge, indoor batting cage and underground hot tub.

Free-agent season opened Friday with the Yankees planning to give Sabathia a record offer for a pitcher.

Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner confirmed Friday night at the team’s spring training complex in Tampa, Fla., that an offer was made to Sabathia, and that proposals will be forthcoming for pitchers A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe.

“Yes,” Steinbrenner said when asked if an offer was made to Sabathia. “And we’re prepared to make offers to Burnett and Lowe.”

The Yankees formulated a proposal to the big lefty that would exceed Johan Santana’s $137.5 million, six-year contract with the New York Mets both in total and average, a baseball official familiar with the negotiations said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to divulge details.

Steinbrenner declined to give details about the Sabathia offer.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and Greg Genske, one of Sabathia’s agents, did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

Steinbrenner said he felt the Yankees will be successful in the free-agent market.

“I’m starting to become very optimistic,” Steinbrenner said. “I think it’s going to be mutually beneficial to us and for these particular players that we’re after for them to join the Yankees.”

Ah, when the music’s over…

The image of Hank Stein wearing leather pants and proclaiming himself to be the Lizard King is somewhat disturbing , no?

In any event, what happens if Sabathia, Burnett and Lowe all pass on those Yankee dollars?

Hank Steinbrenner said the Yankees will explore all options during the offseason, including the possibility of making an offer to free-agent slugger Manny Ramirez.

“There’s nothing we are not looking at,” Steinbrenner said today at the Yankees’ spring training complex. “And personally, I like Manny. He’s one of the greatest hitters in the history of the game. He’s a free spirit for sure, but he knows how to win. We like some of the other guys, too. We just don’t know yet.”

Ramirez was traded from Boston to the Dodgers on July 31, and Los Angeles is expected to attempt to re-sign the high-priced outfielder.

“I want to see who is the highest bidder,” Ramirez said when the Dodgers lost the NL championship series. “Gas is up and so am I.”

The Yankees’ priority is pitching, and CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett figure to be the top starters on the market.

“Every team in baseball wants Sabathia,” Steinbrenner said. “That’s the bottom line. It’s not a real secret. Pitching is in the forefront for everybody, not just us. That’s why starting pitching is at a premium.”

Hank Steinbrenner says Joba Chamberlain likely will return to the New York Yankees’ rotation at the beginning of the 2009 season.

“The plan as of right now is Chamberlain is going to be a starter,” the Yankees co-chairman said Thursday after five hours of organizational meetings at the team’s spring training complex. “Everybody’s pretty much in agreement with that.”

Chamberlain began this year in the bullpen, joined the rotation on June 3, then was sidelined after his Aug. 4 start because of rotator cuff tendinitis that caused him to go on the disabled list. When he returned Sept. 2, he went back to the bullpen.

“It was a productive day,” Hank Steinbrenner said. “We didn’t make any decisions today. We just covered all the things we need to fix. Everything is open. We’re willing to do anything that will improve us. It was more of a summary and quite a lot of discussion.”

What could Jean Afterman and Felix Lopez possibly have to offer at these meetings? It scares the bejesus out of me, as a Yankees fan, that these two could have any input, whatsoever, on player personnel decisions.

The Yankees are making like Cory Daye and getting together down in Tampa tomorrow. Via the AP:

The New York Yankees will sort through their offseason plans when organizational meetings begin Thursday at the team’s spring training complex.

Co-chairmen Hank and Hal Steinbrenner were to participate in the sessions along with team president Randy Levine, chief operating officer Lonn Trost and general manager Brian Cashman.

“It’s to set our offseason priorities, certainly, and what we need to try and do,” Hank Steinbrenner said Wednesday. “This year, we definitely are all pretty much on the same page. We know what we have to do, and it’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of effort. Hopefully we can get as much done as we hope.”

Whether [Joba] Chamberlain will start 2009 in the rotation or bullpen will be discussed.

The Yankees are thought to be interested in free agent pitchers CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Ben Sheets, and first baseman Mark Teixeira. Also, exploring a trade for San Diego pitcher Jake Peavy is possible.

“Our goal is to win the World Series,” Steinbrenner said. “This year was a little strange because the American League East was so powerful. We finished third because of the division we’re in. But, is it acceptable for us to be with what we ended up with? No, it’s not. So we’re going to do what we can to correct that.”

…This year, we definitely are all pretty much on the same page…

Wow. Too bad they were a bifurcated bunch last year. I wonder what changed between then and now?

Sitting behind his desk at George M. Steinbrenner Field, Hank Steinbrenner yesterday spit on the notion he has taken a step back in running the Yankees.

“There is one very important point here,” Steinbrenner told The Post during an exclusive half-hour session. “The most important thing to remember is this: If you didn’t get it from me or my brother [Hal], it doesn’t mean [anything]. I don’t care about some piss-ant employee. If you don’t get it from me or Hal, it’s meaningless. I have a lot of things [in Tampa] and Hal is in New York, which is good.”

Asked if he has taken a step back, Steinbrenner emphatically said, “No.”

Since The Boss turned over the day-to-day operations to his sons, Hank has one regret.

“I should have pushed harder for the [Johan] Santana deal,” said Hank, who was talked out of signing Santana by Hal and GM Brian Cashman because they believed the Yankees’ talent (Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Melky Cabrera) and the money (Santana signed a six-year, $137.5 million extension with the Mets) was too costly.

“My dad wanted to do that,” Hank said. “But that doesn’t mean we would have won if we got into the playoffs, because [Chien-Ming] Wang was hurt.”

…I don’t care about some piss-ant employee. If you don’t get it from me or Hal, it’s meaningless…

“The biggest problem is the divisional setup in major league baseball. I didn’t like it in the 1970s, and I hate it now,” Steinbrenner wrote. “Baseball went to a multidivision setup to create more races, rivalries and excitement. But it isn’t fair. You see it this season, with plenty of people in the media pointing out that Joe Torre and the Dodgers are going to the playoffs while we’re not.

“This is by no means a knock on Torre – let me make that clear-but look at the division they’re in. If L.A. were in the AL East, it wouldn’t be in the playoff discussion. The AL East is never weak.”

“I’m happy for Joe, but you have to compare the divisions and the competition,” Steinbrenner wrote. “What if the Yankees finish the season with more wins than the Dodgers but the Dodgers make the playoffs? Does that make the Dodgers a better team? No.”

Steinbrenner also questioned the legitimacy of the Cardinals’ 2006 title, noting that their 83 regular-season victories were two less than the Phillies’ total, but because of the system, St. Louis reached the playoffs as NL Central champs while Philadelphia lost the wild card race to the Dodgers, who had 88 wins.

“People will say the Cardinals were the best team because they won the World Series,” Steinbrenner wrote. “Well, no, they weren’t. They just got hot at the right time. They didn’t even belong in the playoffs. And neither does a team from the N.L. West this season.”

Call me crazy, but, I’m guessing that Hank and Torre will not be exchanging X-mas cards this holiday season.

“Suffice to say, there’s not going to be any more, on my part, of trying to keep everybody happy. If I want somebody, I’m going to go after him,” [Hank] Steinbrenner told The Record by phone this afternoon.

“Just as my dad would have,” he said, adding that George Steinbrenner has equally been dismayed by the Yankees’ fourth-place standing. “It’s been a very disappointing year for both of us.

“Other people might tend to look at [the Yankees] more like a business, and as long as business-wise [the club is profitable] everybody’s happy. But we don’t see it like that.”

To restore the Yankees into a World Series contender, “We’ve got major work to do, there’s no question,” Hank Steinbrenner said.

Asked if general manager Brian Cashman would continue to spearhead the baseball operation beyond his contract expiration next month, Steinbrenner said, “I think both parties still have to decide.

“I don’t think any of us expected this to happen this year,” Steinbrenner said of a 77-69 club that — barring a baseball miracle — will become the first Yankees team to miss the playoffs since 1993.

“Even besides injuries, certain players didn’t perform. Certain things didn’t get done,” Steinbrenner said. “It was somewhat the result of things that had been done over the last five years, and now I plan on fixing them.

“I’m very disappointed in this team. But at the same time, there’s no question injuries were a huge factor.”

Because of those injuries, the major league roster “might not be as difficult to fix as you’d think,” said Steinbrenner, whose chief concern is at the root level.

“The biggest mission, for myself, is making sure the farm system is stronger than it’s been the last few years,” Steinbrenner said. When it comes to prospects, “I want more.”

“The Mets did it with Santana, and I came damn close to doing it with Santana,” Steinbrenner said of the trade he advocated last winter with Minnesota. “You look at it on a player-to-player basis, and you look at the market.”

“You look at what [Mussina] did, and if everybody else had been healthy … you get an idea of what we could have had,” Steinbrenner said.

A part of Steinbrenner still wonders whether he should’ve insisted on Santana, too.

“[Would] Santana have made enough of a difference with all our injuries [this year]? I don’t know,” Steinbrenner said. “It certainly would have made us a lot closer.”

No such thing as an off-day, in Yankeeland, is there?

Me? I don’t know what to make of all this…

On one hand, I like an owner who is invested in his team beyond the dollars and cents. However, on the other hand, you can’t do what Hank is saying that he will do, here, and be operating out of Tampa (when your team plays in New York). You’re going to need to be there, if you want to be on top of things and seeing things with your own eyes and hearing them with your own ears. And, this season, Hank has been to…what…two games? That’s not going to cut it…in my book.

Hank Steinbrenner believes Brian Cashman will be back as Yankees general manager next season, but Steinbrenner said not everything will be the same.

“I’m not the least bit pleased about what’s happened this year,” he said.

“There were still mistakes made the last five, six years, and that’s what I want to fix. I have to consider everything. That’s what my dad (chairperson George Steinbrenner) would have done, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Steinbrenner said the Yankees have already been planning a busy fall and winter.

The free-agent class includes pitchers A.J. Burnett, who is expected to opt out of his contract with Toronto, Ryan Dempster, Jon Garland, CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets.

Steinbrenner placed some of the blame for this year’s disappointing record on underperforming players, but mostly on injuries.

“The Patriots lose (Tom) Brady and everyone’s crying for them,” he said. ” We’ve lost (Joba) Chamberlain and (Chien-Ming) Wang, two of the very best starting pitchers in baseball, and (Jorge) Posada as well. It doesn’t matter (to people). It’s, ‘They’re the Yankees. So what?”‘

Ryan Dempster? Please, say that’s not going to happen.

I’ve never shared this before here – because I was afraid if I wrote it…it might come true. But, I have this strong fear that the Yankees are going to go out and sign Oliver Perez this off-season. It’s partly because of the way Perez pitches against the Yankees and partly because Scott Boras is his agent and I suspect that he could get A-Rod to lobby for Perez. And, in my opinion, signing Perez would be a disaster.

Add the signing of Ryan Dempster to that potential disaster list. Please, just don’t do it.

Girardi is in his first season managing the Yankees after agreeing to a three-year contract last October. The team is likely to miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993, but Girardi wasn’t expected to be fired.

I’m not sure what the point of this AP Report is? After all, two weeks ago, the Post had this story:

Hank Steinbrenner today said the entire Yankee organization is at fault for the team’s unacceptable showing in the standings, with one notable exception: Joe Girardi isn’t part of the problem, according to the Baby Boss.

“As far as Girardi is concerned, who I think is brilliant, this is his first year and he’s had to play the hand he was dealt,” Steinbrenner said during the Yankees’ 3-2 victory over the Red Sox at the Stadium.

“Not only that, he lost a lot of his parts through injuries. Baseball managers can’t perform miracles. It’s easier for a football coach to do that. For a baseball manager it’s more leadership and having the parts, having the players.”

Steinbrenner said he hasn’t considered the notion the results would be any different this season if Joe Torre were still managing the Yankees. Torre’s Dodgers remain in the NL West title chase, albeit with a losing record.

“The Dodgers are in the easy division, the National League West,” Steinbrenner said. “If the Dodgers were in the American League East, they would be nowhere, that’s the bottom line. But Joe was a great manager and Joe Girardi is going to be a great manager. We try to avoid picking bad managers. Torre was great and Girardi is going to be great. So, no, it wouldn’t have made a difference.”

Seems like the AP is trying to make a story out of nothing here, to me.

New York Yankees co-owner Hank Steinbrenner made only his second appearance at Yankee Stadium this season on Wednesday and decided to weigh in on his team.

He defended Alex Rodriguez, while offering a remedy for A-Rod’s problems hitting with runners in scoring position.

“I’m not concerned,” Steinbrenner said, speaking to a small group of reporters outside Yankee Stadium prior to last night’s game between Boston and New York. “He is still young enough. He is going to have a lot of good years ahead of him. He just has to quit pressing.”

“When he has a night like that, he is going to hear it from the crowd,” Steinbrenner said. “That’s the way it works. I’d rather have him than not have him.”

Hank Steinbrenner once again proved he is his father’s son, ripping the Yankees last night after their 11-3 loss to the Red Sox.

“The bottom line is, they sucked.”

This marked only the second home game Steinbrenner has attended this season, and he expressed his extreme displeasure in what he witnessed during a brief interview on his way out.

Mere minutes after the blowout loss was official, Steinbrenner emerged with various family members and security guards, stopped by the parking lot and said: “It’s very disappointing.”

Told that this was the type of loss his father would have gone bonkers about as recently as a couple years ago, Steinbrenner waited for the question to finish, nodded and said: “Even without having our two best pitchers, so forth and so on, they still stunk. That’s the bottom line.”

“I don’t know,” Steinbrenner said when asked if the Yankees are done. “All I can think about is this game at this point. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

Before the game Steinbrenner vowed a busy offseason after this disappointing season, saying, “There’s going to be a lot going on this offseason. I promise you that.”

Get used to this “A-Rod’s pressing. We suck. Changes coming.” routine. We could be hearing that a lot over the next nine years in Yankeeland – unless, indeed, changes are made.

What Yankees fans have conveniently forgotten is the Red Sox are not the only other team in the AL wild-card hunt. Boston led the Yankees by five games and the Twins by 1½ after Minnesota’s 4-2 loss at Seattle last night. The Twins also are one game behind the White Sox in the AL Central.

Five games back with 32 left means the Yankees have to sweep three from the Red Sox, then negotiate a brutal schedule across the final 29 games that ends with three games at Fenway Park.

In other words, don’t cancel that order for pinstriped coffins – although Hank Steinbrenner, who last week admitted the Yankees were looking to next year, now believes in his team.

“If we put on a run here, there’s no question we can make it,” Steinbrenner said yesterday in Tampa. “There’s no question with the number of games we have left, it’s possible.”

Yet, do the math. And leave the AL East-leading Rays out of the equation, because the Yankees aren’t catching them.

The Red Sox, Twins and Yankees had 32 games remaining after Sunday; the White Sox had 31. If the Red Sox finish 16-16, they would have 91 wins. For the Yankees to win 91, they would have to go 21-11. If the Twins post a 16-16 record, they would get to 90 wins. If the White Sox go 16-15, they also would have 90 wins. For the Yankees to match that, they would have to go 20-12.

On the surface, the Yankees have a chance to post those numbers, but remember, the other clubs have to play .500 for the math to work. And it starts tonight against Boston.

An exclusive WasWatching.com photo of Hank Stein – shortly after he made those comments to George King:

Hank Steinbrenner, who has gone out of his way to emphasize how much injuries have hurt the Yankees this season, told the new Sporting News magazine that he had to do it because, “Most of the national media is full of Yankee haters.”

“That’s why I have to point out the injuries,” Steinbrenner writes in his column in the magazine’s relauch issue, dated Sept. 1. “Because the media sweep that under the rug and say we’re playing poorly.

Most weeks that the Yankees are at home, team co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner meets with general manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi at Yankee Stadium. Last Friday, Steinbrenner added one to the invite list: captain Derek Jeter.

With time running short for the Yankees to get back in playoff position, Steinbrenner wanted to be sure the players got the message that ownership continues to have every confidence in this team. And he knew that Jeter could deliver that to his teammates.

“I just wanted to let [the players know] that ownership absolutely believes that we’re in this,” Steinbrenner said in a phone interview yesterday. “We absolutely believe we’re in this fight, and that we’ll be in it until the end. Winning takes determination, courage and heart, and it’s time to bring that into the open in a big way. I just told Derek, ‘It’s got to start with you. You’re the captain.’ And he knows that. It was a good meeting. Very positive.”

“I’m optimistic, and I’m going to stay optimistic until the end,” Steinbrenner said. “I just wanted them all to know that George, Hank and I all believe that we are in this thing 100 percent.”

“I can only speak for myself – I know we’ve got a good team,” Steinbrenner said. “I know we’ve got a good team, and I wanted to convey that to Derek so he could convey that to his teammates. He knows he’s the captain. He knows it has to start with him. It’s like that in any sport, in anything in life.”

I was really into the “Hank Stein” thing when he first came out of the shadows. But, now, I’m beginning to side with the camp that believes he’s all bluster and excuses. And, it seems like Hal is more involved in the day-to-day running of the team.

When you read quotes like these…if seems like Hal is more like Jimmy Carter whereas Hank is more like Billy Carter. I just hope that…having two of them working at the same time…doesn’t lead to a future full of conflict for the Yankees front office.

“I’m not writing off this season,” the team’s co-chairman said Tuesday. “They’re trying hard to win. There’s only so much you can do. They’re not supermen.”

“I think it’s very simple, we’ve been devastated by injuries. No team I’ve ever seen in baseball has been decimated like this. It would kill any team,” Steinbrenner said. “Imagine the Red Sox without (Josh) Beckett and (Jon) Lester. Pitching is 70 per cent of the game. Wang won 19 games two straight years. Chamberlain became the most dominating pitcher in baseball. You can’t lose two guys like that.”

“We’re going to win it next year,” he said. “If we need to add a top veteran pitcher, we’ll do that. We’ll do whatever we need to do. Next year we’ll be extremely dangerous.”

OK, here’s my rub here. Yes, losing Wang hurts. However…no one expected Mussina to be the ace that he is this season. So, yeah, the Yankees lost an ace in Wang – but they gained an ace in Mussina. Basically, the “reasonable expectation from Wang and Mussina” and the “actual production from Wang and Mussina” are a push this season – with most of the heavy lifting coming from Mussina (instead of Wang, as expected).

And, yes, losing Chamberlain hurts too. However…if Hughes and Kennedy were not as bad as they have been this season, the Yankees would not have been so reliant on Joba (in the rotation). So, it’s not the injury to Chamberlain that was the problem – it was the bad judgement to count on Kennedy and Hughes to be 40% of your rotation that was the problem.

Therefore, in the end, it’s weak to play the injury card here.

Further, this “If we need to add a top veteran pitcher, we’ll do that. We’ll do whatever we need to do. Next year we’ll be extremely dangerous” line is insulting. The Yankees had a chance to “add a top veteran pitcher” last off-season (Johan Santana) and passed. So, why will this winter be any different?

Unless, of course…this means that Cashman will be out or over-ruled this time? Hmmm…

Barry Bonds in pinstripes? If nothing else, the New York Yankees talked about it.

High-ranking Yankees officials gathered for meetings at their spring training complex Thursday, a day off for the team before it begins an important three-game series Friday night in Boston.

Missing injured sluggers Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada, the Yankees discussed ways to improve for the stretch run as next Thursday’s trade deadline approaches. After a three-hour meeting, co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner confirmed that one of the topics was the indicted home run king.

“We covered everything, including Bonds,” Steinbrenner said.

Hank Steinbrenner declined to get into specifics about potential trades, but said “there’s a couple things that might be promising.”

“We’re playing great. That’s the key thing,” Hank Steinbrenner said. “Considering we’re not 100 percent because of the injuries, it’s pretty impressive. Where we can add, we’ll look into it.”

I wonder if Hank asked Cashman if the Yankees should look into trading for Brett Favre too?

Seriously, I wouldn’t mind the Yankees picking up someone like Casey Blake. The last few seasons, he’s hit LHP pretty well. He can DH, play third, or first – even a little outfield. And, he always seemed like a gamer to me. Right now, give me Blake over Bonds…for the Yankees this season. Then again, I’ve heard zero rumors about Blake coming to the Bronx.

“I’m not worried about developing a legacy,” says Hank Steinbrenner, who has taken over his father’s franchise at a time when the club is building a new palace to replace historic Yankee Stadium, which is hosting the All-Star Game on Tuesday.

“Let’s see how long I do this,” he says. “I just want to win. That’s all I give a crap about, is winning. And that’s all I want my players to care about. I’m like my dad in that respect, I guess. But I’m more patient than he was. That’s for sure.”

“There’s a lot of excitement around here from the Rays fans, but almost to a point of arrogance,” he says. “They better be careful. They’ll learn this (expletive) can change real quick.”

The Yankees have been subsidizing the Rays and other teams with their revenue-sharing and luxury-tax payments, Steinbrenner says, so they should be thanking the Yankees.

“People in baseball know it, whether they want to admit it or not,” Steinbrenner says. “It helps everyone when the Yankees are good. The Red Sox, whether they’re good or not, doesn’t necessarily matter, nationally. … Let’s face it: The Yankees are baseball history. You’re talking about 26 championships.”

“I want to get back (to the World Series) again. We have to play the cards we were dealt. But if this hand doesn’t work out, we’ll do what we can in the offseason to get thing shaped up.

“With what we’ve got in place right now, we still should be able to make a run,” team co-chairman Steinbrenner said Monday night. “We’re without Wang, our 19-game winner. That’s the biggest blow. We’re without Damon for a little while, but he’ll be back. Matsui wlll probably be back. It’s been a bad year for injuries. The fans got to remember that. Don’t get discouraged. Injuries do happen.”

“We have been decimated by injuries,” Steinbrenner said. “I don’t remember a year this bad as far as injuries. It’s had a huge affect, it really has. Nobody wants to make excuses, but it’s reality.

“In any sport, I don’t care what it is. Soccer, baseball, basketball, football, there’s only two things that come under the heading of luck. Injuries and bad officiating,” Steinbrenner said. “You just hope you don’t get the injuries, and we’ve had them this year.”

Then again, you can be prepared for potential injuries by having a 40-man roster populated with some players who are ready and able to make a contribution to the big league team. That’s been the problem for the Yankees this season…the last five or six players on the 25-man roster and the bottom half of the 40-man roster are guys who cannot make a positive contribution to the major league team (today) when pressed into duty.

Granted, yes, there’s no team in baseball with a 40-man roster that’s stocked full with players of immediate big league ability. But, the Yankees bench this season has been a waste. And, their pool of available pitchers to replace Wang, Kennedy and Hughes has been embarrassing. And, this is why injuries have hurt the Yankees – because there’s been nothing there to call on when they happened.

Though he did not mention Rodriguez by name, Steinbrenner said, “We all know they’re better than that. I don’t know. Maybe a little less outside distractions and a little more concentrating and they’ll start hitting better.”

Since a 9-0 win over the Mets on Friday, the Yankees have scored seven runs in losing three of four games.

Rodriguez, whose visits to Madonna’s apartment came to light Tuesday amid rumors of her possible divorce, is 2-for-17 (.118) in his past five games.

Steinbrenner, the team’s co-chairman, said he has been surprised by the inconsistent offense, but noted that it’s been an area of concern for general manager Brian Cashman.

“Even when I was worried about the pitching earlier – starting pitching is the most important thing of all – but Brian would keep telling me, ‘Yes, but I worried about the hitting,'” Steinbrenner said. “That was Brian’s biggest concern even as we were reconstructing the pitching. … I thought they would go on a consistent tear, and it hasn’t happened yet.”

“Not just this one series, but maybe the next couple series is going to be pivotal,” Steinbrenner said.

“We can definitely still make a run at it,” Steinbrenner said.

I’m having Big Stein & Reggie flashbacks as I read this one. Maybe Hank thinks he can get A-Rod going the way Mussina went on a roll after the “Jamie Moyer” thing (from Hank)? I dunno. Alex is a lot of things…but, he’s not Reggie Jackson.

The bigger and hotter the situation, the better it was for Reggie. It doesn’t work that way with A-Rod. He tries too hard. If anything, it’s probably a better approach to try and take some of the pressure off Alex…than to try and prod him by applying more heat.

Willie Randolph won’t have to look far if he wants another job in baseball – he just needs to call Hank Steinbrenner.

“There’s certainly some stuff I can think of for one of the greatest infielders I’ve ever seen,” Steinbrenner told The Post yesterday.

Steinbrenner would love seeing Randolph work with the Yankees’ young infielders. But Steinbrenner mentioned that the job of manager in the foreseeable future isn’t an option for Randolph – The Baby Boss is happy with Joe Girardi.

Steinbrenner made it clear that he considers Randolph a Yankee and holds no ill-will toward him for leaving the organization to manage the Mets , who fired him last week.

“If he had left to take over the Red Sox maybe I would have had a problem with that,” Steinbrenner said. “He’s a Yankee. He’ll always be a Yankee. Even the Mets never completely accepted him because they thought he was a Yankee.”

Steinbrenner said he didn’t want to comment on the manner in which Randolph was fired because he’s not “one of those talk-radio types” who spews on subjects he knows little about.

Still, Steinbrenner couldn’t resist one jab at the Mets.

“They probably could have handled it a little differently than 3 o’clock in the morning,” Steinbrenner said, referring to the timing of the press release announcing Randolph’s firing.

“But the bottom line is he’s a Yankee and he’ll always be a Yankee,” Steinbrenner said. “He’s always welcomed with our organization. He knows that.”

Back in 1993, Randolph was the Yankees assistant G.M. – working with General Manager Gene Michael – evaluating major and minor league talent on a full-time basis. I would not mind seeing Willie come back, in that capacity again, with the Yankees.

Yes, I know that Tino Martinez has a role with the Yankees now that’s close to this job description. But, why not have two guys as assistants? Never hurts to have some different opinions.

Asked if the Yankees need to make a deal for a pitcher given Monday’s news that Wang has a partially torn tendon and a sprain of the Lisfranc ligament in his right foot, [Hank] Steinbrenner said, “It doesn’t matter. Nobody’s in a hurry to come to the rescue of the Yankees. I learned that 30 years ago.

“There’s really nothing out there, I don’t think, for anybody. We’re going to look within first.”

Asked later if the Yankees would balk at trading youngsters for a pitcher, Steinbrenner acknowledged, “It depends on who it is. But all our top pitchers who we like, our top prospects? No chance.”

But all our top pitchers who we like, our top prospects? No chance.

So, if the Yankees do trade one of their young pitchers for some help this season, does this mean that the guy they trade was someone who they really weren’t all that crazy about?